Shouldn’t work be the preserve of dog-eat-dog humans?

Only the hardiest of souls could fail to be touched by the tragic tale of Alan TBH Plumptre, the dachshund who came to an untimely end this week in the revolving doors at Tatler magazine. He was not the first fashionista to have suffered such a fate, one fears, and certainly not the last.

Tatler Alan, as he was known to his 2,600 followers on Twitter – a tally that increased to more than 3,700 after news of his death broke, proving that, for some artists, true recognition only comes once they have gone – was being taken for a walk by an intern at the time.

Distracted by the sight of a male jogger returning to the office, Alan dashed for the doors, only to become stuck. Ten firemen struggled for an hour to free the pair.

And while one feels for the poor creature, whose demise could have been taken from the pages of The Devil Wears Prada, is the dog-eat-dog world of the office the place for a pooch? And who would take a dog to work anyway?

Quite a lot of people, actually. Greg Barker, the energy minister, was the subject of complaints last year when he used the office microwave to heat up his sausage dog’s cushion. Otto, who was often present in meetings, even took a loo break during a visit by Barker’s Colombian counterpart. “When [Mr Barker] first arrived, we had to watch our step, as the dog wandered around the office,” recalls a Whitehall insider. “We put up with that. But when he started using our microwave to keep the dog nice and snug, with a heated cushion, it proved he thinks more of the dog than us. Some refused to use [the microwave] because of hygiene worries.”

Sources close to Barker hit back, saying that Otto was “brilliant for bringing people together – essential when you are working in a coalition.”

An International Journal of Workplace Health Management survey found that people who go to work with their dog report lower stress levels than employees who leave their pets at home, or those who don’t have pets at all. But could their anxiety be higher because the poor people are trying to get on with their jobs without stepping on a designer dog? Could it be that their irritation levels have risen because their boss is paying more attention to Fido than a deadline? Might it be that some employees – perish the thought – don’t like dogs? And that a few of them could actually be allergic to them?

According to the Kennel Club, around 28,000 businesses allow dogs on their premises, the largest of which is Google. The search-engine company does not permit feline pets in offices, stating in its code of conduct: “We like cats, but we’re a dog company, so as a general rule we feel cats visiting our offices would be fairly stressed out.”

The Kennel Club encourages dog-friendly workplaces, but has rules: “The dogs need to be properly trained and socialised and owners should be vigilant as to what their dog is doing.” How often should a dog take a, ahem, screen break? “That depends entirely on the dog.”

Claire Conrad, the director at Janklow and Nesbit literary agency, used to take Lokie, her West Highland terrier, into the office, but stopped because “I could see how bored he was. He peed on a handbag belonging to a publishing executive, and if I was going out to meetings I had to leave him with colleagues who hadn’t been hired to walk a dog. I realised it just wasn’t fair to try to fit him around my lifestyle. I gave him to a postman who lives in the countryside. Lokie is so much happier now.”